Meaning
Clear of danger or difficulty after a risky period, as with illness, financial trouble or a fragile project. Almost always used in the negative - 'not out of the woods yet' - to warn that recovery is incomplete; British English commonly keeps the singular 'out of the wood'. Slightly informal; overwhelmingly used in negative constructions about caution during recovery. Regional use: General English.
Origin
The image is of emerging from a forest in which one was lost or endangered. Dictionary.com, following the American Heritage idiom tradition, says the expression alludes to being lost in a forest, claims a pedigree 'from Roman times' (classical parallels such as Plautus are cited, though without a documented Latin source) and records its first appearance in English in 1792. Etymonline independently dates the figurative sense, 'safe', to by 1792. The short form grew out of the older caution 'don't halloo (or holler) till you are out of the wood', do not exult before the danger is past, which proverb collections treat as the parent saying, so the documented English history begins in the late 18th century while the ancient lineage remains asserted rather than evidenced.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- not out of the woods yet
- not yet out of the woods
- out of the wood (British)
- we're not out of the woods
Usage Examples
- The patient is talking again, but she's not out of the woods yet.
- Sales rebounded in May, though the chain is hardly out of the woods.
- Don't book the celebration dinner - we're not out of the woods on funding.